Bicycles in the Field

While the Co-Habitant and I have separate dayjobs, we also work together as an artist team. The artwork we make is hard to summarise, but, among other things, it involves photography - usually in far-off, remote locations. The distance to the locations, the remoteness, the amount of photo equipment and props we use, and the need to be on location at a specific time so as to get the right light, make driving the most suitable means of transport to the sites. However, we now have at least two photo-shoots planned that are close to Boston, and the distances to these locations (13-15 miles from home) are reasonably cyclable. Prior to doing the actual photo shoot, we normally take a reconnaissance trip to the location - to take test shots, to get a feel for the light, and to try out background compositions. These trips don't require much equipment, and so we decided to try to do this on our bikes.

It took over an hour to arrive at the photo-shoot location on our roadbikes. While we have cycled that distance many times before, it has always been in a recreational context, never for work. Here are some notes as to how this was different:

It was difficult to focus on creative thoughts with my leg muscles working overtime (hills) in the summer heat. Instead, my focus is mostly on the physical process of cycling and on monitoring traffic conditions.

Also, I realised that when we cycle together we tend to talk about cycling-related matters - a habit that proved difficult to break! When we drive to photo-shoot locations, we use the trip as an opportunity to have in-depth conversations about our work. We did not succeed in doing this while cycling, as the topic of conversation kept shifting to bikes - that is, when it was possible to talk at all.

Upon arriving on location, even after a rest, it was difficult to focus on work. We were in a forest, dissected by foot-paths covered in gnarled tree roots and pine cones. The Co-Habitant got excited at the opportunity to cycle off-road. I became frustrated - both because I was too afraid to do it, and because that wasn't what we were there for. I insisted that we walk the bikes and search for potential scene backdrops instead. He agreed, but I could tell that his spirit yearned for off-road cycling and he wasn't truly able to keep his mind on our project.

Finally, we happened upon a grassy clearing with wildflowers, and now it was my turn to get distracted. I was supposed to be taking test shots of the location, but I could not resist the opportunity to take "bike portraits". Neither could the Co-Habitant. We ended up posing our bicycles amidst the flowers and then cycling around the grassy meadow, just to get it out of our system. Pathetic!

In the end, we did take the test shots we needed, and even came up with plans for the perfect backdrop. But the process took all day, and we repeatedly struggled with staying on task. The lesson? Well, I guess that we have a hard time combining fieldwork with long bike trips, as the latter is not only exhausting, but fosters a cycling-specific atmosphere that is difficult (for us) to break out of.

That is not to say that we are giving up and will take the car on such trips next time. Rather, I am trying to figure out how to prevent the same conflict from happening again. As much as I love bicycles, they are (believe it or not!) not the center of my universe, and my artwork is infinitely more important to me. I would like for cycling to be a tool that will help me with fieldwork, without sucking all the attention away from it. Just need to figure out how exactly to make that happen.

Of Rabbits and Hares

This was among the first photos taken with the new Nikon P500 camera, which arrived on the 8th. I stepped out the back door on my way to take pictures and this little fellow was sitting across the alley. I got two shots off before he darted away. This is not a cropped image...





This jackrabbit, also known as a hare, was seen in Mountview Cemetery in Billings on the 13th. At first I thought it was a grave decoration, albeit not near a grave, but then I noticed its eyes were moving.





A close-up shot, at the full 36x magnification of the zoom lens.



It was a little wobbly in the hind legs when it stood up – a lot like my legs after I've been sitting for too long!





It looked back at me, then jumped off – literally – covering a distance of five feet or more with each hop as well as a foot or more in height. And it was fast! Sure was fun to watch too. (In a search for info on jackrabbits I found out that they can leap up to 10 feet and reach speeds up to 40 mph. Their young are born furred and with their eyes open.)

Vermont and New Hampshire Barns From My Window

And my favorite barn that we've seen so far. It wasn't the prettiest, but I loved its endurance and character!

And while I'm writing, can I say how good it is to be back? When we were in PA, we had no cell phone service and very limited internet. As in, I could not even read Pioneer Woman's blog. So I didn't bother doing much posting there. I'll have to see if I can go back and cover what we did see and do there sometime.



I have missed blogging so much though. I told Nathan tonight that it truly helps to cultivate gratitude for my life when I blog. When I'm going throughout the day, I can easily fall into a mindlessness about what we are doing. When I look at the pictures and write the words to capture the day, it makes me stop and be very mindful of this wonderful life we are living right now and all of the neat things we see each day. It's good for my soul!



Living the life in Vermont!

Close Encounters :: Devils Tower

Friday, August 26th - - After spending a couple of hours at the Mammoth Site the trail lead northward once again.





Mother Nature put on a fantastic display of clouds, constantly changing with the wind. Several times I just “had” to pull off onto the side of the road to take a few quick shots. Shortly after this picture was taken, there was hardly a cloud to be seen in the sky!



It was just a few hours drive to my next destination – one that I had wanted to visit for quite some time - Devils Tower National Monument in northeast Wyoming. It's hard to believe that it has been more than 30 years since “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was released - I've loved the movie and Richard Dreyfus ever since!





A tantalizing southern view of Devils Tower from the drive into the campground.

It was late afternoon when I arrived and the temperature was in the low 90s. I was thankful that the campground was full of trees that provided plenty of shade, and there was a light breeze blowing. After selecting my campsite and grabbing a bite to eat, I drove up to the visitor center, which is near the foot of the Tower.





I had planned on walking the 1.3 mile trail around the base of the Tower the next morning when it would likely be cooler. But I walked a short distance up the trail and just kept going. There were few people on the trail and the only sounds you could hear were of the wind blowing through the trees, a few birds now and then, and those of your own imagination. Far above the top of the Tower there were birds floating on the airstream.





In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt designated Devils Tower as our first national monument. One of the most popular Native American legends tells of the origin of the Tower:

One day, an Indian tribe was camped beside the river and seven small girls were playing at a distance. The region had a large bear population and a bear began to chase the girls. they ran back toward their village, but the bear was about to catch them. the girls jumped upon a rock about three feet high and began to pray to the rock, “Rock, take pity on us; Rock, save us.”

The Rock heard the pleas of the young girls and began to elongate itself upwards, pushing them higher and higher out of reach of the bear. The bear clawed and jumped at the sides of the rock, and broke its claws and fell to the ground. The bear continued to jump at the rock until the girls were pushed up into the sky, where they are to this day in a group of seven little stars (the Pleiades). The marks of the bear claws are there yet.

Scientists say that the Tower is actually the core of a volcano that has been exposed after millions of years of erosion brought on by the Belle Fourche River as well as the wind and rain. The rocks and boulders around the base of the tower are actually broken pieces of columns that have fallen from the sides. Read more about Devils Tower on Wikipedia.



The light was quickly fading as I finished my hike around Devils Tower. Heavy clouds had moved in and off in the distance I could see flashes of lightning. As I walked across the parking lot to Van Dora I felt a kind of chill even though the temperature was still in the upper 80s. The wind had picked up and a strong breeze was blowing.



Returning to the campsite I watched the lightning flashing through the clouds. It wasn't your “normal” streaks of lightning, rather it caused a kind of glow in and around the clouds that made them stand out in the growing darkness. It rained for about 45 minutes and the front moved through, which cooled the air somewhat. However, it was rather eerie given the location – all we needed was the colored lights to go along with the thunder and lightning!





Saturday, August 27th - - Above, Devils Tower in the early morning light. It rises 865 feet atop the hill upon which it stands.





This sculpture titled “Circle Wind – Circle of Sacred Smoke” by Junkyu Muto stands near the entrance to the campground. Devils Tower is a sacred place to Native Americans.





Probably the most “recognizable” view, from the east side, this was taken as I left the area later in the morning.

Dad and the 511th

On February 19th 1943, just 3 weeks after his 19th birthday, Jack William Wiseman was inducted into the U. S. Army. A week later he entered active service at Toledo, Ohio.

At about that same time the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment was activated at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. A processing system was set up for screening the volunteers for Parachute duty from all over the country. Every man was interviewed and had to meet the Regiment’s high standards prior to his acceptance. Only 35% of the volunteers met those requirements. Since most of the men had come to the Regiment straight from induction, their entire training, from Basic on up, was of Airborne design. The Regiment was sent to Camp Mackall, North Carolina for 17 weeks of Basic training. Following that training, the 511th journeyed to Fort Benning, Georgia for three weeks jump training. Following Parachute School the Regiment returned to Camp Mackall for Advanced Training.

Apparently, within the upper echelons of the War Department, there was some concern about the effectiveness of and need for large Airborne units. A special test maneuver was ordered for the 11th Airborne Division and it took place for five days during the first week of December 1943. This included a nighttime parachute, glider, infantry, and artillery demonstration. The objective of the division was to capture the Knollwood Airport in North Carolina; thereafter, this exercise became known as the Knollwood Maneuvers. The success of these Maneuvers was very instrumental in the continued use of Airborne troops during the remainder of World War II.

Early in January of 1944, the Division went to Camp Polk, Louisiana, and engaged in additional maneuvers. In April, they traveled by train to Camp Stoneman, California. On May 8, 1944, the 511th departed on the SS Sea Pike with about 2,000 troopers that had been disguised as a "Straight Leg" infantry unit. The ship had been built by the Western Pipe and Steel Corp. and launched in February 1943. It was 492 feet long, with a beam of 70 feet. She drew 29 feet of water and her steam engines pushed her at 17 knots. On May 28, 1944 the Regiment arrived at Oro Bay, New Guinea.

Through October, the 511th was in strategic reserve in New Guinea. During this time they conducted airborne, jungle and amphibious training. On Nov. 7, 1944 the Regiment departed New Guinea on the USS Cavalier for the Philippines. His separation papers show that Dad was involved in campaigns in New Guinea, the South Philippines Liberation, and Luzon. The History of the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment (link at bottom) provides details of the battles in which the 511th Regiment participated. Not all companies participated in all of those battles. His record shows that Dad was wounded in action on February 8, 1945 at Luzon. It was not a serious wound however.

In May 1945, the division moved into a rest and training camp near Lipa, Luzon where preparations began in earnest for the invasion of Japan. However, on August 6, 1945, the nuclear weapon "Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, followed by the detonation of the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb over Nagasaki on August 9th.

Two days later, the Regiment departed Luzon and was flown to Okinawa. On August 30th the 511th arrived at Atsugi Air Base near Yokohama to occupy the city and guard the docks from which the peace delegation left for the signing of the Armistice. On September 2, 1945 the Japanese formally surrendered during ceremonies onboard the battleship USS Missouri which was docked in Tokyo Bay on the island of Honshu. Two weeks later, the 511th moved to Morioka, Japan to begin the occupation of Iwate and Aomori Prefectures in Northern Honshu. Although some of the troops of the 511th remained in Japan, Dad returned to the states in December 1945 and was separated from service on January 26, 1946 at Camp Atterbury, Indiana having served 2 years 11 months and 3 days, a little more than half of that time had been foreign service.

My Dad never talked about his military service to us kids, even after we were adults. There was only one time, when I was still in high school, that he brought out his box of memorabilia. There wasn't much. A few medals, a couple of pictures, some currency that we called funny money (15 bills of varying denominations), and a small flag. It was a Japanese flag that he had picked up after a battle; it had some dark stains on it that he said was the blood of the "Jap" that he had taken it off of. After he had shown that to us he immediately put everything away again. I don't know what happened to the little flag, but I now have his medals, pictures (unidentified, of course) and papers. I do remember, when we were little, for several summers we went to the Goshen Air Show. We'd meet up with some of his "buddies" and their families. Dad also had two rifles from the war. Mom said that after a particularly rough time, he threatened to commit suicide and she made him get rid of the guns. It was at about that time that we quit going to the air shows.

In May 1977, I was transferred to the Naval Air Station at Yokusuka, Japan. I knew Dad had been in Japan and asked him about it but he still wouldn't talk about his time in the service. It wasn't until after he passed away that I found out the details, from his separation papers and some magazine articles. In 1993, he had joined the 511th Parachute Infantry Association and amongst his papers were eight issues of "Winds Aloft" which is their quarterly publication. It has some very interesting and informative articles, some written by men that were in his company. After having read some of those articles, I think I now know why he didn't want to speak of his experiences.


These pictures have seen better days. My Dad is the young man on the left in the first picture. None of his pictures are captioned so I don't know where or when they were taken.

Currency issued by the Japanese Government while they occupied the Philipines during the war. The Filipinos called it "Mickey Mouse" money due to the fact that it was similar to play money and next to worthless.


The 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment was part of the 11th Airborne Division. Decorations and Citations that Dad received included: American Theater, Asiatic-Pacific with 3 Bronze Stars, Philippine Liberation with 1 Bronze Star, Good Conduct, Purple Heart, Meritorious Unit Award, Bronze Arrowhead, and Victory Medal.



The History of the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment by Leo F. Kocher
The Knollwood Manuevers
The battle for Luzon
The Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Wikipedia
Formal Surrender of Japan onboard the battleship USS Missouri
WWII Pictures of Manila on the Island of Luzon
Philippine Pesos issued by the Japanese Government

Finally, He's Moving

Sunny decides to walk across the pen and Tuffee walks after him thinking she is herding.

Niagara Falls

This is one of those things that I had on my Bucket List when we started traveling. This is also one of those things that lived up to its hype. It is also one of those things that is so incredible, that words can't even begin to describe it.

It is also one of those things that pictures can't truly capture it. I still tried. I wanted to post about a hundred of my shots from this wonderful day, but I forced myself to pare it down to a size I could actually upload using our connection.

To be up close and feel and hear the power was really something. It reminded me of how much grander things found in nature are than things that man builds.

Not to mention, it was just beautiful. Really, really take your breath away beautiful!

Living the life in the land of natural wonders!

Hotel Florida in Havana and what happens when you put your foot down

Havana is literally a colonial architecture dump. Time stands still in Havana, frozen during the majestic 18th century and fast forward into the 1950’s. Cuba in faded glory. So obviously our voyage into this island country was to experience what time warp is like in the 21st century. A stay at one of the historical hotels in Old Havana otherwise known as ‘Havana Vieja’ to the locals will be a great start.

I initially eyed Hotel Nacional de Cuba but this lovely hotel was tucked away far from the heart of Old Havana. We want a historical hotel in the centre where plazas and important sights are easily reached from our doorstep. Hotel Santa Isabel at Plaza Armas was also in my list but they were fully booked. I still have three other hotels to choose from and in the end the decision was placed on Hotel Florida, mainly because I love its colonial courtyard and its white and green colour scheme.

Before I booked this hotel online at Cuba Travel Network (you pay upfront) I researched high and low to make sure I made the right decision. It was when I learned about the drama on the missing windows in many hotels in Havana. So I specifically noted in my reservation—‘We need a room with a window or balcony please.’

Arriving quite late in Havana, I began to worry about the room without a window scenario. Well it seems that the stars have misaligned because we were assigned to Room 101—one of the notorious rooms indeed in Hotel Florida without windows.

NO FREAKING WAY. I simply cannot accept a room without windows after a crammed 10 hours flight?!

So I demanded my room with a window, and I stood my ground and never flinched. Hello? I PAID FOR A ROOM WITH A WINDOW gaddammit. I really and seriously put my foot down, not leaving the desk and nagging at the poor receptionist. Well, it paid off. She finally came to a solution and offered a junior suite at no extra charge for the next day before 10AM. Unfortunately the hotel was full and Room 101 is the only room available for the night. OK fine. I accepted her offer.

Here is the 4-star Hotel Florida on the legendary Calle Obispo, one of the prime streets in Havana Vieja:

The colonial atrium courtyard lobby of the hotel.

This is the second floor where the suites are located.

On the right picture is the door to our room.

The view from the second floor's hallway down to the courtyard lobby.

And here is our junior suite:

Because its a suite they do not have 2 separate beds but a king size one which is fine as its big enough for us. I can stick to my own corner =)

Our own private sitting room and moi on the balcony. I love high ceilings.

The marble bathroom, antiquated and honestly I felt icky here but I have no choice. I felt icky in all the toilets of Cuba except for the one in Trinidad as it was fairly new.

Fire tree and view outside from our suite's balcony.

Florida Hotel's restaurant where we took our breakfasts.

The marble statue at the entrance of the hotel and the hotel's male mermaid doorknob.

As for Room 101? The room actually looked elegant but I almost had a nightmare after seeing the bathroom that I didn’t even think of taking a shower that night considering that we had just a long transatlantic flight. Trust me, I didn’t want to touch anything in that bathroom! The ceiling and walls were in a grand moldy state. Stale odour was also emanating out of the air-conditioning. How on earth can you breathe with recycled air? I need fresh air otherwise I will suffocate. I am also very sensitive to sanitation affairs because my skin can quickly irritate, and it did.

So we woke up early in the morning and made a bee-line for the hotel reception desk. Luckily, we were told that they are now cleaning our new room and they will bring our luggage to the suite once it’s done. We were relieved. We had breakfast and a stroll around Havana Old Town before coming back to the hotel to inspect our new room.

TIP: When booking a hotel room in a historical hotel in Havana, always check if they have windows because many hotels have rooms without one. Havana is very humid and hot, and when there are no windows but only air-conditioning and recycled air, this makes the room damp and stale. Consider as well that the buildings in Havana are old and are not that well maintained. This is granted, helaas. Most rooms in fact have traces of mold spores and bathrooms have dark tile linings.

Big Water Santee

Obviously, we've stayed at a campground or two over the past eighteen months. They tend to blur together after a bit. The one we are at now is one I think will continue to stand out in our minds. The sites are pull through and level and big enough to park our rig and truck on. We have full hook ups with 50 amps. The campground is pretty and on a lake. All good stuff.

What had my heart singing with glee though was the pool area. There is a fish shaped pool. There is a pool that has the baby pool built into one end so you can watch your little one play while being in the deeper end yourself. There is a splash zone. And there is my all time favorite water park feature: a lazy river. I think I spent three or four heavenly hours in this part of the campground. With an hour or so of that time including me reading a book while floating on the lazy river. I may want to stay here forever.





Living the life in South Carolina!